2023-05-11: Lunch Break ~MEMORIES~
- Cast: Guy Shishioh, Alouette Pommier
- Where: Nouvelle Tokyo - Kitchen HANA
- Date: U.C. 0097 05 11
- Summary: Alouette invites Guy to Kitchen HANA for some tropical burgers; she's pleased to tell him how her school and social life has been going.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Midterm season is fast approaching, so Alouette's been close by Jindai a lot more often this week. But if she's going to be in the area, there is something she really wants to get around to trying again.
So she shoots Guy a quick VERTEX asking if he'd like to stop by for some tropical burgers, and waits over at Kitchen HANA. It really does mean a lot that he offered her that piece of the world when she was at her lowest, after all...
When Guy arrives, he'll see that she's still in her Jindai uniform - she's fresh off from class. "Guy!" She waves enthusiastically. "I'm glad you could make it. I thought a change of scenery like this would be nice," she explains. Orbit Base is nice and all... but Guy deserves some time of leave too, she thinks.
"And I could use a break from study periods." She adds.
When the Hatsunos come around, she gets an order of the standard tropical burger and an extra large iced tea. She kinda wonders how much Hana told them about her.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
GGG has their own pack of VERTEX emotes. Guy Shishioh is not their most villainous user but he is the one most likely to reply to any given VERTEX with a sticker of his own grinning face.
Relatedly, Guy soon arrives. It's work all the time, lately - he's in uniform even now, himself. But still, he busts into a big grin as soon as he sees Alouette. "There you are!" he says, holding his hand up to return the wave. "It's good to stretch my legs a bit, anyway. Thanks for inviting me. Always a good day when we can hit Kitchen HANA."
Guy, of course, is an unavoidably familiar face, and all he has to do is signal for his usual (it'll also be a tropical burger) when Mama Hatsuno comes around. After, he tilts his head toward Alouette. "Study periods. They're working you that hard?" he chuckles. "Gosh. ...I was going to joke about history class, but what even is in history classes these days?"
Probably him. Alarming.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Alouette can't help but smile when Guy sends that sticker of his own face. Some people at 3G should not be trusted with sticker-adding privileges...
"Yeah, geez.. how long has it been since we've stopped by Nouvelle Tokyo... without counting fights against science criminals or kaiju?" She shrugs ruefully, smiling. "This is a lot better."
"Not as hard as Chief Akamatsu," she immediately quips back. "Kidding, kidding. But I do have some competition this year... so I have to try my hardest." Is she making Tessa her rival without even telling? Maybe.
"History class is weird. Some of the people they show are people I could've sworn stopped by Orbit Base at some point. Or... people we've had to fight before." She adds, only a little grimly. "Having to operate against Char Aznable of all people was certainly like a walking history lesson." Taking a sip of her tea while waiting for her burger, she adds. "They did have a short section on the Primeval War this term since you're absolutely wondering that." She smirks.
"Other than that, it's been really nice." Her tone brightens. "I've made friends, joined clubs, even went on a few dates. I never thought I'd be able to live like this... and I feel like I would've scoffed at the idea of it before."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"I'm by pretty often, actually," Guy says, gaze tracking across the skyline to the distant monolith of the Space Development Corporation Tower. Still in business, even without Taiga all these years... "We've still got a few offices leased out of the SDC tower, mostly for cooperation purposes. Spent a good few weeks down here right after I got back." A light chuckle. "While people figured out what to do with me."
He does laugh: "Hah! 'course I was. Not a surprise. All the information control in the world wasn't keeping it secret after the Great Wall turned into a magma cannon."
He also arches an eyebrow. "Oh, competition?" he asks. "and dates?" That grin turns mischievous. "Sounds like you're having a great time."
'I feel like I would've scoffed at the idea of it before.'
"Probably," Guy says, his smile turning fond. "But this is the life we were trying to show you you could have. Sorry it took a while."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"That does make sense," Alouette nods. Mamoru's dad must be working really hard to carry the torch Taiga left him. "There's the old-ish Marine Base around here too. After that wave of science crime and... those fake Angels, I left Aviaire stationed there for a while." She does laugh in turn when Guy calls back his time here after returning. "I definitely remember that. We were all annoyed about the media hogging our your attention, I think. Especially Mamoru."
"I wonder if it counts as cheating to take a peek at the old Primeval War intelligence reports we have stored..." Alouette asides, deviously.
"Sometimes both at the same time~" She grins back. "Turns out fencing makes an excellent date idea." Her smiles softens then as she takes a nom out of her fresh tropical burger.
"No matter how long it took, I still have a long time ahead of me. I'm only sixteen, right?" She replies. "And I have enough room to make so many memories. Between being an ordinary girl and a Brave, I never had to choose one or the other after all. Thanks for helping me realize that, Guy."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
"I made it up to him with dinner and drinks," Guy chuckles. "Even now, there's just so much going on, huh?"
As for cheating: "I suppose you're already pretty far past having resources nobody else has," he notes with a laugh.
"Fencing, huh," Guy muses. "I don't think I spent much time on that one. I was mostly chess...track...few other things." His smile softens.
He's thinking about Mikoto, of course, and a tree on a grassy hill overlooking campus.
He blinks the thought away, picking up his own burger. "That's right," he agrees. "It's something you choose, but it's not something that has to confine you. You're wearing it well, these days."
Burg. Homf. Not even Guy Shishioh can make eating a hamburger look graceful.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"That's a really funny thought," Alouette replies, about the dinner and drinks, sparing a giggle. "Yeah... far too much. I don't think you want to see how much has been piling up on the Operators' desk." Alouette tugs one of her curls.
"Ahaha, you're not wrong about that... I'm almost certain I'm not the only one, though. Jindai has a reputation after all!"
"Fencing's a really interesting sport." Alouette explains. "You really have to pay attention and predict your opponent, but you can't lose sight of your own movements, either."
She smiles as Guy recounts his own high school days. She knew bits and pieces - she got caught up in one of his high school rivalries that ended way too bitterly. "Track well, tracks. Chess surprises me a little, but you are pretty smart yourself. You wanted to be an astronaut, right?" Grinning, she adds, "Maybe I'll have to challenge you to a game when we aren't quite so busy."
After that, she notices how Guy pauses for a moment. She can imagine who he's thinking about - and gives him that moment to reminisce.
Alouette listens, and takes Guy's words to heart. "I won't forget that. And... I'm glad you think so." Nom. Unfortunately, Alouette can't make it look graceful, either.